University of Chicago Medical Center Receives 26th Consecutive “A” in Hospital Safety from Leapfrog Group

The University of Chicago Medical Center received its 26th consecutive “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a healthcare industry watchdog. This honor recognizes the collective commitment of employees to provide patients with the best, safest care in the country.

With this grade, the South Side-based academic medical center is now:

• One of only 12 hospitals in the United States to have received Leapfrog’s “Straight A” distinction in every reporting period since the twice-a-year surveys began in 2012. Five years ago, there were 36 hospitals with consecutive “A” grades.
• The only hospital in Chicago to have consecutive “A” grades since the start and one of only three in Illinois with this distinction.
• The only research-intensive academic medical center in the nation to have earned 26 consecutive “A” grades in patient safety by The Leapfrog Group.

“Your efforts to keep our patients safe demonstrate that our Medical Center belongs in this elite group, even as the list of 'Straight A' hospitals shrinks in each survey period,” said Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Chicago, in a note to staff.

Leapfrog’s peer-reviewed process rigorously evaluates hospital performance using more than 30 performance indicators, such as measuring preventable errors, accidents, injuries and infections. It also analyzes how well our multidisciplinary clinical teams communicate with patients to reduce errors.

“Achieving an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade is a significant accomplishment for the University of Chicago Medical Center,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “It reflects enormous dedication to your patients and their families, and your whole community should be proud. I extend my congratulations to the University of Chicago Medical Center, its leadership, clinicians, staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts to put patients first.”

Leapfrog reported improvements in how UCMC physicians and nurses discussed patients' health, listened to patients and treated them with courtesy and respect, as measured by Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores. This type of communication between caregivers and patients can prevent errors or misdiagnoses. Leapfrog also noted gains in preventing falls and injuries, in addition to reductions in various hospital-acquired infections.

These advances help keep patients safe and reduce time spent in the hospital so they can return to their homes and loved ones.

“Patient safety always will be a cornerstone of our organization. We thank all our faculty, clinicians, nurses, residents, fellows and staff for your commitment to safety, quality care, and our ongoing efforts to improve the patient experience,” said UChicago Medicine Health System President Tom Jackiewicz in the note to staff. “Your hard work and dedication has made our health system one of the safest in the country.”

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. This program is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.